Judging the quality of place of birth research

Last week when I attended the normal birth conference, I paid special attention to the presentations by Saraswathi Vedam. I was watching her work on the Home Birth Summit before I was involved in research. At the Normal Birth Conference, she presented information about The Birth Place Lab and the research tools that are available at the website. The Birth Place Lab highlights the products of activities generated by the Home Birth Summit.

I want to draw your attention to The Birth Place Research Quality Index (ResQu Index), an index that can be used to assess the quality of studies about the place of birth. I haven’t had a chance to review the tool yet but I will because I am a fan of tools that make decision making transparent, especially when those decisions affect policy and care.